法国地方政府

　　Slimming down

　　瘦身中

　　France tells local governments to cut the fat

　　法国当局下令地方政府“减肥”

　　WHEN Claude Monet lived near the Seine at Argenteuil, he painted white canvas sails and river banks. Today, Argenteuil is part of the suburban sprawl west of Paris, and is more famous for being the most indebted large town in France. A recent report from the Cour des Comptes, the national audit body, told the town hall to take urgent measures to curb the deficit “in line with the gravity of the situation”.

　　克劳德·莫奈在阿让特伊的塞纳河附近时，画过白色帆船和塞纳河畔。如今，阿让特伊只是巴黎西郊无计划扩展地区中的一部分，并且更是因负债累累而臭名远扬。法国审计法院Cour des Comptes已经命令当地市府大厅采取紧急措施，抑制财政赤字，要和“地球引力”方向保持一致。

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　　Across the country, town halls are facing a budget squeeze. As part of its effort to control the national deficit, which this year is yet again set to bust the euro zone's 3% rule, President Franois Hollande's Socialist government has promised 50 billion of budget savings from 2015 to 2017. Of this, it says 11 billion will come from reduced transfers to local government. But persuading town halls to apply such cuts may prove the most difficult piece of the French deficit puzzle.

　　当前全国上下、各地市府大厅均面临财政紧缩的困境。为了有效控制国家财政赤字局面，实现欧元区规定的不超过3%的赤字目标，法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德所在的社会主义政府已经承诺2015年至2017年削减财政支出500亿英镑。而这500亿英镑中，110亿为中央政府对地方政府的拨款项削减额。但是，要说服当地政府接受这样的财政紧缩政策恐怕是实施财政紧缩政策项目过程中最棘手的部分吧。

　　Argenteuil is poorer than the average French town, and its unemployment rate is nearly 17%. The share of residents living in subsidised public housing, in the concrete towers that ring the town, is twice the national average. And like many French towns, Argenteuil's aspirations to first-class public services exceed its ability to finance them.

　　和法国其它小镇相比，阿让特伊的经济发展较落后，且它的失业率几乎高达17%。住政府补助房和外围混凝土塔的人数是全国平均值的两倍。和法国很多小镇一样，阿让特伊也想提供一流的社会公共服务，但这笔支出却不是它现在的财政所能承受的。

　　Overlooking the river, a vast new plate-glass building house the Argenteuil-Bezons Agglomeration, a new layer of local government created several years ago to run joint services with its neighbouring town. In the old town centre, near the freshly scrubbed medieval chapel, six gardeners in fluorescent-yellow jackets are planting out municipal flower beds. Up the road sits a smart glass-fronted cultural centre, complete with 500-seat theatre and two cinema screens. Outside, a line of toddlers, grasping each other's hands tight, totters along the pavement. Argenteuil has 20 crèches, catering to babies from the age of ten weeks. Older pre-school children are served a daily three-course lunch, graced by such dishes as poached fish and quinoa followed by a slice of Camembert.

　　俯瞰塞纳河，可以看到一幢雄伟的玻璃建筑—阿让特伊的巴黎式建筑群，该建筑为几年前新建，用于和邻居小镇合作办公。在这座古老的小镇中心，靠近刚翻新的中世纪教堂的地方，只见6名穿荧光黄外套的园丁在忙着整理市镇府花园。沿着这条街道，还可以看见一座精美前面透明的文化中心楼，内设有500张坐席和2副电影屏幕。楼外，只见一列小孩儿，手拉手，正在蹒跚学步呢。阿让特伊设有20家托儿所，专门服务于10周岁大的婴儿。大些的学前小孩儿每天可享受一顿三菜的午餐，搭配丰盛有营养，如水煮鱼配藜麦，再加一片乳酪。

　　Locals consider such things to be the basic job of local government. But Argenteuil's debt already amounts to some 300m. Last year alone, the public-sector wage bill jumped by 8.5%, to 79m, according to the Cour des Comptes, and the deficit reached 17m. “It was insane,” declares Georges Mothron, the Gaullist mayor, who defeated his Socialist predecessor in elections in March. In 2013, he says, the town hall hired 377 new staff. This included 40 new workers to staff 150 extra crèche places. The old team disputes the figures, and Philippe Doucet, the previous mayor, describes the spending as “investments in the future”.

　　当地居民都把这样的服务视为政府的基本职责。然而，阿让特伊的债务已高达3亿英镑。法国审计法院称，仅去年一年，公共部门的工资开销就上涨至790英镑，涨幅为8.5%，赤字额为1700万英镑。曾于三月大选击败前任社会主义的戴高乐式市长Georges Mothron说，“这简直是疯了。”。2013年，他报道该地新雇佣员工377名，而这370名也包括40名被分配在新添的150处托儿工作的。前任政府人员对这些数字加以反驳，如前市长Philippe Doucet发言说，“这是对未来的投资”。

　　Applying similar logic, many French towns have given themselves a facelift over the past decade. Dijon has built a blackcurrant-coloured tram, which wends its way on tracks laid over fresh grass, as well as a new Olympic swimming pool. In the north, Tourcoing and Roubaix and its neighbouring cities of Tourcoing and Roubaix have constructed a new 50,000-seat stadium, a competition-class velodrome, and the biggest aquatic centre north of Paris, due to open next year. New layers of inter-town local government have proliferated. Between 2000 and 2011, the French town-hall headcount increased by 26%.

　　同样地，法国很多小镇在近10年都给自己做了次“整容手术”。第戎修建了有轨电车，轨道下方有新铺的草坪，还有新建的奥林匹克游泳池。法国北部的里尔和它附近的图尔昆和鲁贝分别建造了设有50000坐席的体育场、竞技类的赛车场和巴黎以北最大的水上运动中心，预计明年开放。同时，地方政府的机构也在不断地快速扩张。2000—2001年，法国各镇的市府大厅职工人数增长达26%。

　　The new budget squeeze, and the fact that most civil-service jobs are protected, will force towns to put such projects on hold. Franois Rebsamen, president of Greater Dijon as well as the French labour minister, has called it the “end of a cycle” for big investment projects in his town. In Argenteuil Mr Mothron says he has cancelled a renovation of the swimming pool. Central-government transfers to Argenteuil will be cut by 3.5m next year and by 8.5m in 2016.

　　由于新出台的预算紧缩政策，加上多数公务员都是受保护的，因此镇政府不得不暂停类似上述提及的工程。第戎市长兼法国劳工部部长的弗朗索瓦?雷布扎门Franois REBSAMEN，把这称之为当地大型投资工程的“循环终止”。在阿让特伊，Georges Mothron称已经取消了游泳池的翻新工程。中央政府给阿让特伊的财政补助明年将减少350万英镑，后年减少850万英镑。

　　Such decisions will not be popular, given France's stagnant economy and high unemployment. Some town halls may think it would be better to raise local taxes rather than cut popular services. And the party barons who run many towns will seize on the chance to attack the central government. Indeed, this week Martine Aubry, the Socialist mayor of Lille, denounced the economic policies of her fellow Socialist, Mr Hollande. France is relying heavily on the local-government effort to help secure budget savings. But, despite the pressure from central government, town halls may yet refuse to do their bit.

　　鉴于法国停滞的经济状况和居高不下的失业率，此类决定并不怎么受欢迎。一些政府大厅认为，更应该提高征税，而非中止颇受喜爱的公用服务。同时，那些管理多地的政党巨头将会趁机攻击中央政府。实际上，本周里尔社会主义市长玛蒂娜·奥布里Martine Aubry就公开谴责了同党伙伴Hollande所采取的经济政策。法国的预算紧缩能否有效开展，最重要的还是得看地方政府的财政举措。尽管中央政府所施压力不小，但很多小镇可能还是会拒绝，不会尽力为之。